Skip work — go fishing

The fish are biting in the streams, rivers and lakes all over the Cowboy State.

Call in sick, use a vacation day or sneak out of the office a little early sometime this week. The fishing’s excellent throughout Wyoming, and the shorelines are less crowded on the weekdays. You’ll probably be able to find a good spot to drop a line on the weekend, too, but you’ll have to walk a little farther from the road.

If you’re after the big one, this is the time of year to go after it. Reports of fish over five pounds have been flooding in from Gray Reef, as well as several other public fishing areas around the state. Most waters haven’t been stocked with the smaller trout yet, so the survivors from last year are all you’ll find under the surface.

To get them, you’ll have to go deep with your lures. Take up a spot downstream from where you think the fish will be hiding. Deep holes, undercuts along the bank and driftwood tangles provide shelter for trout. Tie a nymph on your tippet and cast it toward the hole. Try to drop it upstream of the hole so it will sink to the bottom before it gets to the riffle where you think the fish are hiding.

Midges are good bets, too. You can use a midge as a dropper behind an attractor pattern. For the attractor, try a rusty scud. Tie a No. 18 midge to the bend in the hook of a No. 12 scud with about a foot of tippet material. Cast the flies upstream far enough that they’ll sink to the bottom and drift through the run.

Streamers often work well this time of year, too. Cast streamers slightly upstream and across the current. Strip them across the flow as they drift down, or through slow pools upstream of where you’re standing.

Big trout often hang together. If you find a hole where the big boys are camping out, you might be able to drag a few lunkers out of the water.

I was ecstatic about fixing my truck over the weekend, though I’ve heard the statement, “Pride cometh before the fall.” Sunday night, the truck wouldn’t start again, so now I know what they mean by that.

My cousin Carrie stopped in Cheyenne on her way back from a vacation recently. I told her we should take our families camping, like we did when we were kids, and she got really quiet. Then I remembered how those trips actually went.